Interviews on wonder, curiosity and creativity
Susan Engel is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Founding Director of the Program in Teaching at Williams College. Her research interests include the development of curiosity, children's narratives, play, and more generally, teaching and learning. She has authored 9 books including The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood and the upcoming release The Intellectual Lives of Children.
Rubens Filho is a man not afraid of change. He was a lawyer, then a creative director for many years. Now Rubens is an entrepreneur, innovator, CEO and Director of Spells at Abracademy. He believes the world needs magic. Abracademy wants to change the way companies think by helping them understand the magic of their people. Using magic (yes, real magic!) as a tool, Abracademy helps people and teams connect, and collaborate. They're putting belief and wonder back into business.
Tiu de Haan is an Oxford-educated creative facilitator, imaginative mentor and ritual designer, specializing in reminding people how to shift their perspective to see the magic in the mundane. Her talks, workshops and unique curated experiential adventures are all about creating moments of meaning that connect us to ourselves, each other, and our own creativity.
She has worked with Google, the World Economic Foundation, L’Oreal and the UN, and collaborates with world-leading neuroscientists, quantum physicists and chemists to create experiences that wake up our sense of wonder.
She is also consults for global brands on rituals for beauty, food and wellbeing, as well as creating bespoke rituals for times of transition for individuals, communities and organizational change. Her Tedx talk ‘why we still need ritual’ is about the art of celebrating the transitions of life, love and death and has had over 20k views.
Ash Perrin, also known as Bash the clown is a professional noise maker, childhood conservationist, rabble raiser and lifelong Play enthusiast. Author of ‘The Real Play Revolution’, and Founder of The Flying Seagull Project charity; for over a decade Ash has taken play and dynamic fun activities into the forgotten corners of the world sharing smiles and laughter with more than 130’000 children. Working in Orphanages, refugee camps, shanty settlements, hospitals and often out on the streets the mission is simple and the agenda direct: every child has the right to a happy childhood.
John broke the world record for paper aircraft distance in 2012; a record he still holds. Author of four books of original designs, John has been called the world’s foremost expert on paper airplanes. His planes are recognized around the globe, and one was featured in the movie “Paper Planes”. His books have been translated into... Continue Reading →
Nathan Sawaya is an award-winning artist who creates awe-inspiring works of art out of some of the most unlikely things. His global touring exhibitions, THE ART OF THE BRICK, feature large-scale sculptures using only toy building blocks: LEGO® bricks to be exact. His work is obsessively and painstakingly crafted and is both beautiful and playful.
Yesim Kunter is a play expert and a futurist. As a consultant she develops “playful” experiences for Fortune 500 Companies, Universities, and Communities by applying ‘Play Philosophy’ to products, lectures, environments, communities, culture creation and market research with future scoping. She has developed ‘PlaytoInnovate® Workshops’ in order to train organizations with diverse backgrounds from kids to professionals for leveraging Creative Thinking and held talks at prestigious conferences such as World Innovation Convention, TEDx. Previous to her consultancy she had worked for Toys R Us, Lego and Hasbro as a play futurist.
Elin Roberts is Head of Public Engagement at the Centre for Life in Newcastle. She is a passionate communicator with a wealth of experience producing and presenting science shows. She has worked with scientists, presenters, teenagers and teachers helping them produce engaging performances. She trains presenters, drawing on her experiences of stages large and small, tame and terrifying to get the most out of their own technique. As a practitioner of science communication she still enjoys the sensation of dried PVA on her fingertips and the smell of freshly applied sticky back plastic.
Renee loves explosive ideas and is partial to a flashy science show. If she isn't up to her eyes experimenting or in a school making kids go Wow! she can be found on her soapbox about science being for everyone! Renee trained as a Biochemist before setting up WATS.ON. She ran the Oxford Science Festival and is the founder of The Curiosity Box, a STEM community and subscription for families.
Trained as a neuroscientist, she now works in science communication and education. She has worked in science education at The Physiological Society, Nesta, Planet Science, Science in School, Ignite! and Queen Mary University of London. Her MA research looking into how young people learn accurate science from the entertainment media, saw her take up an International Fellowship at the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. and a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship. She currently works with teachers, artists, pathologists, conservationists and preschoolers…but not at the same time (well, not always).
Words on Wonder 